New details released in attempted murder case

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, September 5, 2005

New details of an incident that led to charges including attempted murder have been released by the Midland County Sheriff's Office.

The incident occurred just after midnight on Friday.

According to a sheriff's office media log entry, deputies were sent to a domestic dispute at a Lee Township home. When they arrived, they found neighbors holding a man down on a couch.

Witnesses said the man, identified as Joseph A. Wray, 37, had been involved in an argument with his girlfriend, a 37-year-old woman, and then drove away in a 1989 Chevrolet pickup truck.

The report states the truck rammed the woman's car several times, then drove recklessly through the neighborhood. The pickup then crashed into the Country Lounge, 430 W. Isabella Road, before heading back to the woman's home.

At that point, the driver rammed the mobile home while the woman and a neighbor stood in the doorway.

Damage to the woman's car is estimated at $3,000, and damage to the Country Lounge is estimated at $7,000.

Wray was arrested and arraigned on one count of assault with the intent to murder, two counts of assault with the intent to inflict great bodily harm less than murder, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of malicious destruction of a building, one count of second-offense malicious destruction of personal property, one count of cut or tap telephone lines, one count of second-offense drunken driving, and one count of second-offense domestic assault.

His bond was set at $350,000 cash or surety for the first offense, $10,000 cash or surety for counts six through eight, and $2,500 cash or surety for counts nine through 11.